Suzie: Being a Co-op is about the members owning the business. That’s why everyone has a membership. It’s how we own part of the business.

Mike: I got a member number. It’s from my old college roommate.

Suzie: You’re supposed to have your own member number! How do you vote in Co-op elections?

Mike: Members are supposed to vote in Co-op elections?

Suzie: Voting is part of the “co-op” deal. You know, “locally owned, democratically controlled…”

Mike: I’m in favor of that.

Suzie: Did you ever hear of the Co-op Principles?

Mike: Like, I’m sure I’m in favor of them. I bet the Co-op Principles are about eating good food, right?

Suzie: Kind of. The first “modern co-op” was a grocery store. The
Co-op Principles are from this grocery store founded in Britain in the
1840s. A group of weavers were hungry after a failed strike. No one
would hire them, and their grocers used dishonest weights and sold
adulterated food. But the group had political savvy and the solidarity
of their union background. So they came together to make a co-op for
food.

Mike: The 1840s was pretty long ago.

Suzie: Do you want to hear about the Co-op Principles?

Mike: Sure. Maybe I can chat up a cashier!

Suzie: The first Co-op Principle is Open Membership: Everyone is welcome to join.

Mike: That’s not a big deal.

Suzie: Not nowadays it isn’t. But back then almost every group had
its own preferred people and refused outsiders. For example, in various
early co-op groups, to belong you had to be a man, or rich, or part of
a certain church congregation, or a member of a certain Masonic order.

Mike: We could refuse membership to people who think the war on Iraq was a good idea.

Suzie: The members vote for the Co-op Board of Directors, or
Council, and the Council sets policy and hires the General Manager, and
she hires and directs the staff.

Mike: How do you vote at the Co-op anyway?

Suzie: If you’re a member, you can vote in the current election.
Information is available at the Member Centers in the stores and in the
Fall Mailing, which is going out right now.

Mike: Well, it’s $90 for a membership.

Suzie: Yeah, but it’s a one-time fee. Let’s go on to Principle Three:
Member Economic Participation. That’s your member share. Instead of
having a rich person or a corporation come up with the money to start
and run a business (and then take all the profits), we, the members,
come up with the money in the form of our member shares. Then we’re in
charge of running it and get the benefits.

Mike: So, we run it by electing a board who thinks like us.

Suzie: Smarter, hopefully. The Co-op Principles are used around the
world for all different kinds of businesses. In the United States
people alienated by big biz had solidarity and a shared vision of
better food. We started the natural foods co-ops that live on today,
like GreenStar, in the 70s using the Co-op Principles. Principle Three
means when a co-op gets ahead financially it makes sure all members
benefit fairly. In co-ops you get a discount or patronage check in
proportion to how much you spent in a good year. Whenever GreenStar has
done well financially, it has reinvested in expanding services, which
all members are welcome to use. Of course, Principle Four: Autonomy and
Independence, means we don’t have to obey orders from some “national
corporate office.” It means we are on our own to figure stuff out, for
better or worse.

Mike: Hopefully for better!

Suzie: That leads us to Co-op Principle Five: Education and
Training. Co-ops provide education and information to members, board
members, managers and staff so they can do their part in making the
Co-op better. There are workshops on how to be a better board member,
and conferences for staff to attend.

Mike: So, my part is to have a membership in my name, shop at the Co-op, and vote.

Mike: It’s going good. But I don’t think cooperating with other co-ops can matter much to me here.

Suzie: Actually, all the “new wave co-ops” from the 70s that are
still alive got together as a “co-op of co-ops” to negotiate best
prices from national suppliers. When all of the Co-ops buy together, we
become a much stronger force. That’s how we can have the CAP program,
which is the stuff on special price in the stores each month. Really
helps with the shopping bill.

Mike: Yeah, I buy what’s on sale. I like to get a good deal.

Suzie: The last Co-op Principle is: Concern for Community. GreenStar has always been good at that and members have loved it.

Mike: You almost make the Co-op Principles interesting.

Suzie: Hopefully you’re interested enough to become a member and
support the co-op movement! And if you want to know more, check out
www.gocoop.coop (yep, co-ops are so cool we have our own web domain).
It’s got oodles of info on all things co-op!

The first day Lauree Myler visited GreenStar, she knew she'd come to the right place. New in town, she and her kids had been traipsing around for hours, looking for a TCAT that never seemed to be coming. "We had no idea where we were, and it was hot as hell," she said. Finding themselves near the West-End store, they went in.